The war was doing strange things to everyone, and Caugust was only going through a bad time because of the pressure he was under. Soon after coming to work for him, Sjean had learned that Caugust was stronger than most people. His actions had only reinforced that knowledge over the years, and she was sure that in a week or even less he would be back to acting like his old robust self again.

  * * *

  Knowing that she had little time, Janette decided to gamble and landed her LPR as close to Xindella’s ship as she dared. Then, after quickly suiting up, she grabbed the countergrav sled, went outside, and walked cautiously over to the Profit. Much to her surprise the Profit’s external hatch was open. Then she found her second surprise. Three meters from the hatch lay the freeze-dried corpse of Ayne Wallen. From the looks of him, he had been dead a while before Xindella had thrown his body out.

  Stepping carefully around him, she put the countergrav sled on the ground, entered the hatch, and cycled it to admit her to the ship. Her third surprise was that Xindella was waiting for her.

  “So, Inspector, we again meet face to face. I had hoped we could have avoided this, but fortune has not been too kind to me lately. Tell me, Inspector, is that a weapon you are pointing at me? And if so, why?”

  “It is,” Janette said, “and the why is simple. I can hardly trust you, Xindella.”

  “How sad, Inspector. I had so hoped you might feel otherwise. However, now that you are here and confronting me, can I safely assume that you have some new and persuasive proposition to offer me?”

  “Yes, Xindella, a very simple proposition,” Janette said. “You help me transfer the weapon to my ship, and in return I haul you off this rock and save your life. What better deal could you ask for?”

  “Two hundred thousand credits from the Neutral Alliance,” he said without taking his eyes off the stubby pistol in her hand.

  “The Neutral Alliance has deserted you. The Ukes have deserted you. If you don’t help me, I’ll take the weapon by myself and I’ll desert you. Doesn’t seem like you have much choice if you want to live.” She desperately hoped he would accept her bluff, because she had little faith that she could transfer the weapon by herself.

  “Not true, Inspector. My transmitter is not functioning properly, but my receiver still works. Even now my cousin joins with his partners to claim their weapon as is their right.”

  Janette raised the pistol. “Suit up, Xindella, or pray for your soul, if you have one, because with or without your help I’m taking the weapon now.”

  “I always did think you had a predisposition toward violence, Inspector.”

  She watched him open a large locker and take out an orange suit that looked more like a deflated balloon. He put it on much faster than she expected him to. “What frequency is your radio?” she asked.

  “One hundred Sondak Standard.”

  As soon as he put on his helmet, she tested the radios. “Can you hear me?”

  “Of course I can, Inspector.”

  “Then listen carefully. I have a countergrav sled outside. We’ll move from here to your cargo bay, open its doors and you will bring in the countergrav sled. And don’t try to do something stupid. I’m not as careless as Ayne Wallen.”

  Xindella began opening the hatch to the cargo bay. “Citizen Wallen killed himself because there was no more gorlet, a truly unfortunate occurrence, Inspector, but not one for which I share any responsibility.”

  “I’ll bet.”

  It only took a few minutes to get the sled, pick up the weapon with the winch in the bay, and put the weapon on the sled. When she was sure it was secure, she said, “It will take both of us to maneuver this to my ship, Xindella. I want your guarantee that you won’t try anything that would make me shoot you.”

  His head shook inside the bubble helmet. “Inspector, I have no wish to die.”

  Even with both of them straining against the overloaded sled, they were barely able to get it across the ground and into the LPR. But they did. Janette locked Xindella in the LPR’s tiny sleeping cabin, and then prepared to take off. As the engine warmed, she flipped on the communicator and heard.

  “-a Sondak ship beside his, Captain, and I believe it is preparing to-yes. It is lifting now. Wait. It looks like the Profit’s cargo hatch is open.”

  “Inspector Janette,” Teeman’s voice said, “you are stealing property that belongs to the Neutral Alliance. I demand that you transfer that property to the Housa which is now landing-”

  “Fly it in space,” Janette said. “I have only recovered what has always belonged to Sondak.” She opened full throttle on the meth engines, and the LPR lifted with gathering momentum off the rocky little planet.

  “Inspector, we’ll take it by force if we have to,” Teeman warned.

  “Don’t even think about it.”

  “No, don’t,” a new voice said. “Inspector, this is Group Leader Kuskuvyet. You will home on my beacon and surrender the weapon to us, or we will blow you to space junk.”

  29

  PAJANDCAN WAS DEEPLY TIRED AND FRUSTRATED. The Ukes around Buth were putting up a much stronger fight than anyone had anticipated. More and more she was sure her fleet was going to be late for its rendezvous with Schopper’s for their attack on Yakusan. If Buth was hard to crack, Yakusan was going to be next to impossible. The best she could hope for was that this temporary stalemate was forcing the Ukes to use ships they would need more over Yakusan – ships they would ultimately miss in their defense of Gensha.

  “Status report,” she snapped as her senior communications aid” entered the Battle Center.

  “No change, Admiral,” Torgeson answered. “We still haven’t been able to contact either the Hise or the Tweener.”

  “But we still have visual contact?”

  “Yes. The Connally’s captain reports that he should reach Hise in two hours or less, and the Tweener is just beyond-”

  “Dammit, Torgy, what can that space merchant do? That’s what I need to know. Is the Connally equipped to make any kind of rescue attempt?”

  “He claims he is. Thinks he can lock on if he has to and evacuate Hise’s complete crew and salvage some of its equipment. Torgeson smiled. “Don’t like working with these civilians, do you, Admiral?”

  Pajandcan thought for a second, and then said, “It’s not working with them that I mind. Saints know I worked with them enough on Matthews. It’s not knowing what their capabilities and equipment are that grinds my nerves sometimes.” She shook her head. Thoughts of Matthews inevitably led to thoughts about Dawson and Dimitri and the millions who had did on Reckynop. “But enough of that. At least something’s being done for the cripples and the Ukes can’t get to them.”

  “Doesn’t look like that’s what they’re planning, anyway, but they re up to something. Look at this, Admiral.”

  Pajandcan stared at the bank of screens in front of Torgeson and immediately saw what concerned him. It looked as though the Ukes were beginning to mass their ships in three separate locations. “Counterattacks, Torgy? Why would they do that? It’s been all they can do to defend the planet. They counterattack and they’ll be open to a breakthrough.”

  “You’d think that, wouldn’t you, Admiral? But suppose it’s not counterattack they’re thinking of? Suppose they were planning to distract us with one of those groups while the other two escaped?”

  “A retreat?”

  “They’d probably call it a defensive withdrawal. They know our fleet isn’t big enough to attempt an invasion, so maybe they think we wouldn’t do anything more than blockade Buth. Maybe they think they can live with that.”

  “Well, I can’t. Every Uke ship that escapes from here is one more we’ll have to fight later. And if they think we won’t use neutronics against their planet, they’ve forgotten what their Admiral Charltos did to Reckynop. But I’ll tell you what, I damn sure haven’t forgotten.”

  The harsh bitterness of the Matthews system disaster seemed always to be hovering on the edge of her mind. This was Pajandcan’s first real chance for massive revenge, and she wanted the Ukes to suffer under her vengeance. Millions had died on Reckynop, and millions of Ukes could pay for that on Buth.

  “You want the neutronics readied?”

  Pajandcan heard a hint of censorship in Torgeson’s voice, but she ignored it. “Yes. Prepare the orders for a polar attack, six R-grade missiles from the Mervell against the North Pole and six from the Rath against the South Pole.

  “Six each?” Torgeson asked in disbelief.

  “Affirmative,” she answered sternly. “But first I want all ships except the Mervell and the Rath to prepare for attack and pursuit as soon as the Ukes make their move.”

  Nine watches later two Uke groups moved into their old-fashioned cone-shaped attack formations, and Pajandcan ordered half the ships in her command to make ready for them while the other half prepared to attack the third and largest of the Uke groups.

  Those preparations were not yet complete when the Ukes attacked. Their methods were exactly what Pajandcan had expected, but the ferocity of their attack surprised her. However, neither of those factors was important. The Ukes had left Buth weakly defended, and Pajandcan gave the final order for the neutronics.

  Mervell and Rath maneuvered quickly but carefully toward their respective positions. Eleven hours later they launched their neutronic missiles. As the battle raged in space around it, Buth spouted fireballs that shattered its ice caps at both poles.

  Pajandcan released a grim smile when the fireballs burst like tiny flowers on Torgy’s screens. The Ukes here were much closer to defeat than they realized, and Pajandcan’s heart quietly rejoiced in the knowledge that within a few days millions of Buth’s citizens would join those who had died on

  Reckynop.

  * * *

  “You know exactly what I mean,” Janette said.

  “How many times must I tell you? I understand little or nothing about – about that,” Xindella said with a contemptuous flip of his proboscis in the direction of the weapon.

  “I don t believe you. You? Xindella? The nastiest, shrewdest broker Patros has ever seen? You want me to believe that you never even inspected the weapon?”

  Xindella snorted as he leaned against the custody straps that held him to the bulkhead. “I looked at it, of course, Inspector, but Citizen Wallen was the one who inspected it for me. I have no technical knowledge. I hire humans for such things. Now will you release me from these bindings?”

  “Of course not. Do you think me stupid, Xindella?”

  “Totally,” Xindella said with a baring of his blunt yellow teeth. In a few hours the Ukes will take your prize away from you, and you will have nothing left but me – assuming they let you live, of course.”

  “And you,” Janette said. “Now shut up and let me think” Xindella was right. She knew that. But that knowledge and what she should do to change it were totally different matters. For a long moment she stood with one hand holding the opposite elbow and the thumb of the other hand hooked under her chin while the forefinger rubbed her nose.

  Maybe she couldn’t keep Marshall Judoff from taking the weapon. But if she could dismantle it – or better yet disarm it in some subtle way – then she could agree to jettison it in exchange for her life. And Xindella’s life, she thought rudely.

  But what if Judoff demanded Wallen? If she told him Wallen was dead, what would keep Judoff from blasting them to spacedust anyway? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

  One thing alone was perfectly obvious to Thel Janette. So long as she had the weapon, her chances for survival were much stronger – especially if Judoff did not know that Wallen was dead. Even so, she thought, it wouldn’t hurt to take a piece or two out of the weapon – just for insurance.

  “Xindella, you’re about to become a mechanic,” she said. “I want you to show me exactly what part of this Wallen was working on before he died.”

  “But Inspector, I told you I know nothing about-”

  “And I told you I need your help – help that could very well save your worthless life. The Ukes don’t have any use for you. Why would they let either of us live after gaining possession of the weapon? They’re not too happy about your role in-”

  “All right, Inspector, all right. Your point is well made. However, I cannot be of much assistance bound as I am.”

  “Then I will free you,” Janette said as she stepped closer to him, “but you must swear by whatever gods you honor that you will not attempt to overpower me and take control of this ship.”

  “I am at your mercy, Inspector. I have no choice but to agree to your terms.”

  Janette reached to release his straps. “Oh,” she said as she hesitated and smiled at him, “there is one more thing you should know. The ship is set to self-destruct if anyone but me tries to pilot it-not that you would do anything like that, of course, but I thought it only fair to warn you.”

  “Thank you, Inspector,” Xindella said with a fluttering sigh when she finally released the straps. “In return for your unnatural kindness I offer you here and now everything I know about the weapon. See that darker panel in the center? Wallen believed that the coupler for the detonator lay behind that panel, and that was the only part of the weapon I ever saw him work a tool upon.”

  “Open it,” Janette commanded.

  Xindella shook his great head. “I don’t know how.”

  “Put your hands on it and find-”

  “Two hours, Inspector Janette,” boomed a voice from the overhead speaker, “until we reclaim our equipment. We hope you have reconsidered our offer to –“

  Janette cut him off with a flip of the bulkhead switch. “We have to get a piece out of this thing, Xindella, so that if they do take it from us, they won’t know what’s missing and won’t be able to make it work. Open the panel.”

  Again Xindella shook his head. “If you insist, Inspector but do not blame me if it cannot be done.”

  One hour later the large brown panel slid aside to reveal one square meter of neatly tangled colored wires running to hundreds of tiny switches and microchips.

  In the center of the tangle was a sealed glass tube partially filled with green liquid. And the liquid was bubbling.

  A chilling wave of apprehension rippled up Janette’s spine as she stared at the liquid and wondered what in the galaxy it was.

  * * *

  “How far away are we, Mars?”

  “Farther than the Ukes.”

  “Delightful Childe? Did you hear that?”

  “I did, Captain Teeman. How long do you estimate it will take you to reach the Sondak ship?”

  Lucky cocked an eyebrow at Marsha and she said, “About one hundred minutes for us. The Ukes look like they’ll beat us by approximately twenty minutes.”

  “Will that give them time to link up?”

  Marsha nodded. “It should if they have a good Close Maneuvering Pilot aboard.” For a moment she wondered who to care about in all this. Why not just let Marshall Judoff and Inspector Janette fight for the weapon? Why didn’t she want that to happen? Her mind had hardly formed the question when she knew the answer. She wasn’t doing this for the U.C.S or for Delightful Childe and the Neutral Alliance. She was doing it for herself, and for Lucky, and for whatever hope the future held for the two of them. There was no other reason that mattered to her.

  “I suggest that you close with them at the fastest safe speed,” Delightful Childe’s voice said from the speaker. “Perhaps your approach will slow them down enough to prevent their linking with the Sondak ship.”

  “And what if they blow us from space, partner?” Lucky “Seems to me like we ought to brake harder and stop away from them.”

  “This is no time for caution, Captain. Since I cannot reach their position for another five or six of your standard hours, you must do everything in your power to prevent-”

  “The only thing we have to do is survive,” Marsha cut in. And your idea sounds foolhardy and stupid to me.”

  Lucky saw the determined look on her face and felt a sudden rush of love for her. Regardless of what happened here, he knew he never wanted to be separated from Marsha again. “She’s right, partner,” he said softly, then repeated, “She’s right.”

  “But you have the laser cannon!”

  “Against a Uke cruiser?” With a slight shake of his head Lucky turned to Marsha and whispered, “What now, Mars?”

  “Suppose we tell Marshall Judoff that we won’t interfere, but as representatives of the Neutral Alliance we demand the right to observe?”

  “Captain? Citizen Yednoshpfa? Is there something wrong?”

  “No,” Marsha said too loudly. “Switch to standard frequency seventy-seven. We’re going to try to talk to the U.C.S ship.”

  “But why?”

  “Switch and find out,” Lucky said before resetting Graycloud’s ship-to-ship transceiver. “Go, Mars.”

  “Neutral ship Graycloud calling U.C.S. ship Enaha. Graycloud calling Enaha-”

  “This is Enaha. What do you want?”

  “Request permission to speak to Marshall Judoff.”

  “Understood. Wait one.”

  During the long pause that followed Marsha thought once again about the strangeness of her situation and the confusion of her loyalties. She reached over and stroked Lucky’s hand.

  “This is Group Leader Kuskuvyet.”

  “Group Leader, we need to speak to Marshall Judoff.”

  “I am in command here, traitor. What do you want?”

  As Marsha clenched her teeth, Lucky answered. “Group Leader Kuskuvyet, we understand that you are going to take the weapon from the Sondak ship. We also understand that we cannot stop you. But as the representatives of the Neutral Alliance we demand the right to observe the-”

  “You have no right to demand anything.”

  “Very well, then. We request your permission to observe the transfer of the weapon.”

  “For what purpose?”

  “Uh…” Lucky knew he had been caught.

 

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